What the Texans Have to do to Win Against a Mediocre Dolphins Team
The 8th week of the regular NFL season has in store for us a rather uneven game for its Thursday Night Football slot. The downtrodden Miami Dolphins (4-3) will pay a visit to the Lone Star State on Thursday night to face off against the Houston Texans (also 4-3), who overcame a disappointing start and now have 4 wins in a row, with the last victory over the Jaguars taking place just last week.
Don’t be fooled by the season numbers; despite the shared record, the quality of both teams is nowhere near similar. While Miami had to put up with its third loss to the unremarkable Detroit Lions, the Texans took a close margin victory over Jacksonville to continue their rise to the top of the AFC South. Historically, the Texans have enjoyed a superiority throughout their lifetime head-to-head encounters, however, Miami was able to snatch a win when they saw each other last time back on 2015.
Expert odds market YOUWAGER.eu currently has the Texans as clear favorite with a -7½ point spread, and a total ranging at 44 predicted combined points.
False Start
The Dolphins managed to get everybody excited during the early stages of the season, after they achieved surprising wins over the Tennessee Titans (27-20) on week one, over the Jets on the second (20-12), and on the third week, against the Raiders at the NRG Stadium with a 28-20 final score. Unfortunately for Adam Gase’s team, their early spurt was short-lasted, and the promising 3-0 grade was soon spoiled by a vastly superior New England Patriots on week four, who forced an imposing 38-7 score on the Dolphins; within just days, the Cincinnati Bengals did their own versus the falling Dolphins, winning 27 to 17. Fate seemed to smile upon Miami once more, when they vanquished the Chicago Bears with a tight 31-28 score on week six, but it wasn’t meant to be after all; the Lions roared and the Dolphins retreated yet again last Sunday.
The complete opposite is true for the Houston Texans, who kicked off their season with a brief string of defeats, among which we may count the Patriots, Titans and the Giants. Then, things took a positive spin on week 4 when, while doing battle with the Colts, Houston obtained a hard-fought win in overtime. The Cowboys suffered a similar outcome some days later (19-16), as did the Buffalo Bills (20-13), and the Jaguars (20-07) over the weekend.
Crippled Finns
The Dolphins have lost more than just games in the last few months; injuries have come aplenty for Miami, who had to let go wide receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson due to infirmity. While QB Ryan Tannehill remains absent, Brock Osweiler will fill in his post once more, but the odds of success for the Dolphins remain at an all-time low, now without the passing game support of the above receivers as well. Houston’s own Keke Coutee is also not expected to show come Thursday, leaving the Texans without a talented key to confront Miami.
My Prediction: Perhaps I should have changed the article’s title a bit and called it instead: “How the Texans will win against a mediocre Dolphins Team” – Even if the Dolphins have fared pretty decently in ATS terms this season (4-3 ATS thus far), the Houston challenge might be just too tough for them to endure. Texans -7½ is as good a bet as you will find.
